Category: Syrah

I have been a fan of Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery‘s wines for many years.  I still have a bottle of their 2003 Summit Reserve Semillon I purchased at the winery that I hope to open this year with friends.  On my recent trip to Kelowna, I messaged their winemaker, Jeff Hundertmark, to see if I could meet with him.  Not…

Can you name the native grapes of the Rhone Valley?  There are the north and south ends of the valley and different varieties.  The main varieties of the north end are Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne. The northern Rhone is cooler and the valley has steep hillsides while in the southern Rhone, the climate is more Mediterranean and the terrain…

Today we are going on a journey tasting Rhone grape varieties; Syrah for red grapes, and Roussanne and Marsanne for white grape varieties. You may have heard of Syrah. BC Syrah is quite well-known for its quality, but Roussanne and Marsanne may be new to you. These two white grapes are grown in the northern Rhone region and are typically…

The Canada Day long weekend celebration is on with picnics and bbqs and generally getting together with friends and family.  Enjoying this scene with BC wine would make it even better in my opinion.  Below is a list of BC wines I tasted recently that I think would be nice to have this long weekend.  Enjoy. A Few Suggested BC…

Do you like solving puzzles and deciphering secret codes?  If so, you should check out the labels from Michael David Winery, coming from Lodi, California.  Their labels have always been quirky and easy to spot on the BC Liquor Store shelves.  Plus you get big, juicy red wines.  Great for BBQ season.  I was fortunate to have a chance to…

Summer is coming, although it may not feel like that at the moment.  Many of you will flock to a beach or park and enjoy wine in a glass or an insulated glass as I showed in my picture.  Canned wines seem to be the go-to beverage to take on these outings, and many BC wineries are canning their VQA…

Winemaking has been around for hundreds of years.  We are very familiar with wines coming from Europe, in particular France, where we talk about Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne.  We typically call Europe the “Old World” wine region, while wines made from the southern hemisphere, are known as the “New World“, plus North America.  But where did the grapes come from…

I am really enjoying these two red wines from Frind Estate Winery in West Kelowna..  I poured their Midnight 2020, made from 100% Marechal Foch grapes, and their The Premier 2020, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Regent, Syrah and Marechal Foch.  I have not heard of the Regent grape before.  According to Wikipedia, “Regent was created in…

What would you have with an Easter turkey dinner?  Probably a lightly oaked Chardonnay or maybe a Pinot Noir, or sparkling wine.  I decided to step outside of my go-to styles of wines for turkey dinner and to try a Vidal and a Syrah Rosé from BC’s Stag’s Hollow Winery.  You don’t often see Vidal offered as a still table…

Clay and concrete vessels are two more historical materials that have been used to ferment grape must into wine. But both have been having a comeback in the last few years. I have two wines from Okanagan Crush Pad. The Haywire Pinot Noir 2020 is fermented in concrete and stainless steel vessels, and Narrative Syrah Viognier 2018 is fermented in…